I've done all kinds of searches of the database and Google on this, only to come up with many informative but useless histories of the olive. So.

As I sat here tonight and ate a few very tasty jalapeno-stuffed olives, I started wondering about why they are such a "specialty" food. (Olives stuffed with jalapenos, that is.) How did the pimiento become the de-facto standard stuffing for olives?

Is this simply an Americanism, or does the rest of the world consider pimiento-stuffed olives the standard processed olive?

And how did the lowly pimiento achieve such status? Where would it be without the olive today?

Aw, c'mon. Just the fact that pilot is asking whether or not it is an Americanism shows that he's is not making any assumption on the matter and is interested in hearing from those who might be more broadly familiar with the topic.

He has experienced it in American, that's his starting point on the way to an answer, then he asks if it is standards elsewhere.

The word pimiento is spanish for pepper, therefore the combination obviously originated in spain. Why do americans thinks that everything is about them?

Or it could have originated in Mexico, Guatamala, Chile, Bolivia, Costa Rica, a myriad other Spanish-speaking countries, or it could have been discovered by a Spanish-speaking Croat, for that matter. I find your automatic condemnation of Americans to be more insulting than the OP was to you. :wally

It is pretty obvious... while garlic and jalapenos stuff an olive well, there is nothing better than a pimiento to unstuff from the olive with the toothpick, nibble on whilst filling the olive with good gin to commence the slurping.

__________________Omnipotence. I gotta get me some of that. -- Stewie Griffin

"Since pimentos are sweet and indigenous to the Mediterranean, it's easy to imagine an innovative farmer or chef way back when thinking they would make the perfect neutralizer to the olive's natural acidity."

Well, I have to admit that most of my pimento consumption is in pimento cheese sammiches. But I have seen them used in soups and stews, and I myself have occasionally put them in dips and things like that.

Mix all together until well blended. Serve with crackers or use as a sandwich filling.

Source:
Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes

<Hobbes>Now you've got me all hungry. </Hobbes>

RR

__________________
"You know the definition of the perfectly designed machine...The
perfectly designed machine is one in which all its working parts wear out simultaneously. I am that machine."
-- Lord Cherwell to Lord De L'Isle (1957)

Well, could it be because green olives stuffed with pimientos are frequently sold in little glass jars with labels bearing the words Spanish Olives?

Just a hunch.

__________________"Unchecked right-wing media power means that in the United States today, no issue can be honestly debated and no election can be fairly decided." -- David Brock, former conservative journalist and "right-wing hitman," author of Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative

But aside from speculation (some of it quite reasonable), we don't have a definitive answer yet.

I was hoping to find something cool like "Nero hated peeling olives and didn't like misshapen ones, so the Spaniards supplying the olives took the nearest thing at hand - the lowly pimiento - and stuck them in Nero's olives. The tradition stuck, as pimiento-stuffed olives became associated with wealth and luxury."

Okay... dare I ask what the hell, exactly, is a pimento? Yeah, I know -- it's the red thing stuff in an olive. I think it comes in certain jars of Cheeze-Whiz. I know that it's closely related to the Spanish word pimiento, which means pepper and not necessarily chile (which is chile or sometimes we gringos spell it chili even though to me the latter is a stew).

Is a pimento a specific type of pepper that's merely called "pimento"? Or can it be any pepper? Or what?

__________________---
If you want to discuss cannibalizing black people, probably the best place for that is the BBQ Pit. -- Colibri

pimiento; pimento A large, red, heart-shaped sweet pepper that measures 3 to 4 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide. The flesh of the pimiento (the Spanish word for "pepper") is sweet, succulent and more aromatic than that of the red bell pepper... Pimenta dioica

Pimento-stuffed olives are the only kind one can buy here in India (and yeah, most of the time, the label says spanish olives). Which is great, because I love 'em and can go through a jar in one sitting.

Until my brother brought some garlic-stuffed olives back from Europe. One word - heavenly! Pimento stuffing just doesn't match up to garlic stuffing...

But aside from speculation (some of it quite reasonable), we don't have a definitive answer yet.

I was hoping to find something cool like "Nero hated peeling olives and didn't like misshapen ones, so the Spaniards supplying the olives took the nearest thing at hand - the lowly pimiento - and stuck them in Nero's olives. The tradition stuck, as pimiento-stuffed olives became associated with wealth and luxury."

Pimientos come from a variety of red pepper (a mild form of chile pepper), which is ultimately of New World origin. The combination can't have existed before Columbus' voyages.

Green and red peppers are simply varieties of chili peppers that have been bred to lack most capsaicin, the hot element in chilies.

As early as the 18th century, producers of Picholine olives in
Aix-en-Provence were stoning their olives and replacing the stone with
capers, anchovies, tuna, and pimiento. This was the beginning of the
tradition of stuffing olives, a popular practice still today.

(quote of a quote)

This doesn't address WHY pimento stuffing became the most common, though.

Gotta try some of them anchovy stuffed ones.

__________________
... and with these words
we parted each feeling
superior to the other and is not that
feeling after all one of the great
desiderata of social intercourse
archy

Check post #10. The stuffings act as a counterbalance to the olive's natural acidity.

I don't think we are ever going to document the "Aha!" moment for stuffed olives, because the Romans were stuffing stuff with stuff since 749BC. Who knows when it first happened. But we now have documentation back to the 18th century at least.

I find this whole stuffing thing strange. It's not easy to find just pitted olives without anything stuffed in them.

Why do people need anything in the olive? I tried a lot of the olives with the pimiento and I haven't sensed any taste to the pimientos themselves but I did sense that the olive taste is very weak, probably because of that.

Check post #10. The stuffings act as a counterbalance to the olive's natural acidity.

I don't think we are ever going to document the "Aha!" moment for stuffed olives, because the Romans were stuffing stuff with stuff since 749BC. Who knows when it first happened. But we now have documentation back to the 18th century at least.

OK, this is a response to a Zombie, but:
Olives are not naturally acid.
They are naturally bitter, and it’s only in the curing and flavoring process that they become acid, and not always then (think: Oil Cured black olives).

I find this whole stuffing thing strange. It's not easy to find just pitted olives without anything stuffed in them.

You're just in the wrong country, they're available pitted and without stuffing in Spain. They're sold in plastic baggies, in cans, or in large plastic bottles which are generally then resold by weight; they last pretty much indefinitely so long as you don't open the container and keep it in a dark place. The most common stuffing here is anchovies, pimiento is probably the second one.

And Colibri, only by 7 years , the maximum official shelf life for foodstuffs being 5 years by law even if it's not true in practice.

I've long assumed that part of the reason olives are stuffed with pimentos has to do with color. The bright red center provides a pleasing contrast to the dull green of the olive, and there aren't many other foods I can think of that maintain that bright redness when pickled. In fact, the only ones I can think of are also peppers.

Why I wonder are black olives never sold stuffed? I can get green olives stuffed not only with pimentos, but with jalapenos, habaneros, garlic, various cheeses, almonds, and anchovies. I am particularly fond of blue cheese or anchovy ones in my martinis, although the others are nice, too.

Me, either. Plenty of varied stuffings for green olives; none at all for black olives. I mean, I've stuffed some at home, but AFAIK you don't have any commercial ones. I wonder if it might relate to the fact(?) that black olives are somewhat more fragile than green olives.

This needs emphasized quite a bit. On holiday, an olive grove around the idyllic villa you are staying in? Love olives and looking at those olives in the olive grove? Yeah, don't eat them off the tree even if you are heroically drunk. One of the top three worst things I've ever had in my mouth, and one of the others on that list is baby piss.

Nothing better than an anchovy-stuffed green olive in a perfectly-made dry martini. The salt-on-salt blast is a fine complement to the last sips of icy gin. Blue cheese stuffing is nearly as good, but not quite. The pimiento, it tastes of nothing. Garlic or habanero would overwhelm the delicious booze.

Nothing better than an anchovy-stuffed green olive in a perfectly-made dry martini. The salt-on-salt blast is a fine complement to the last sips of icy gin. Blue cheese stuffing is nearly as good, but not quite. The pimiento, it tastes of nothing. Garlic or habanero would overwhelm the delicious booze.

If my olive is to be stuffed with anything, it must be something that is made out of food. Anchovies don't qualify.

You're just in the wrong country, they're available pitted and without stuffing in Spain. They're sold in plastic baggies, in cans, or in large plastic bottles which are generally then resold by weight; they last pretty much indefinitely so long as you don't open the container and keep it in a dark place. The most common stuffing here is anchovies, pimiento is probably the second one.

And Colibri, only by 7 years , the maximum official shelf life for foodstuffs being 5 years by law even if it's not true in practice.

In the UK too, most olives are sold unstuffed but of those that are stuffed it is mainly green and the fillings used are the same as mentioned in this thread.

Using my historic newspaper databases, I first find "pimiento stuffed olives" appearing in the U.S. in 1897. The article says "They also sell a new and delicious preparation of pitted olives, stuffed with sweet Spanish pimientos which they call Pimolas."

I have no idea if they existed prior to this in Europe and were imported to the U.S. at this time.

Why I wonder are black olives never sold stuffed? I can get green olives stuffed not only with pimentos, but with jalapenos, habaneros, garlic, various cheeses, almonds, and anchovies. I am particularly fond of blue cheese or anchovy ones in my martinis, although the others are nice, too.

Black olives require a different processing, part of which is filling up the can(standard black olives are usually not often offered in clear glass containers) with an iron solution, which helps to preserve the color. Imagine a pimento-stuffed olive bobbing around in the stygian depths of a dark-colored liquid? Not too appetizing, IMO.

Pity the poor pimento, though. Olives used to be stuffed with actual pieces of these mild peppers, nowadays many olives are injected with a pepper paste which simplifies production. Gotta' love technology.

I'm a big fan of blue cheese or jalapeno stuffed olives in my martinis. Three of them to be precise. When I was a kid, Dad and I would slice up green olives (with pimento) on toast and cover them liberally with old cheddar, then broil until bubbly as a late night snack. Yum!

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